


I was housed by your warmth

by Angels_Artillery



Series: So many indulgent Mechs' fics [1]
Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Multi, Physical Disability, Polyamorous Mechanisms (The Mechanisms), Soft Jonny d'Ville
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:48:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29834868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angels_Artillery/pseuds/Angels_Artillery
Summary: Brian has this handy skill. He's basically a walking heating pad and ice pack.And sometimes the area where metal meets flesh hurts(This was formally 'Honey, You're Familiar,' but I traded the names of the two fics in this collection bc it made more sense that way)
Relationships: Drumbot Brian/Jonny d'Ville
Series: So many indulgent Mechs' fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2193372
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	I was housed by your warmth

**Author's Note:**

> Alrighty! I'm gay! That's the only reason for this fic. Blame @Space-City-Traffic for giving me the idea and the encouraging me, like they do with all my writing excursions!
> 
> Also, I have synesthesia so Brian does too. That's all!

Brian, being entirely metal, had many fun tricks he could do with his body. Usually, he became some kind of storage, or a chair if Marius and Ivy were particularly cuddly. The tightly woven, hair thin strands of brass that made up his thick but flexible skin also made him a very easy target for serving as a shield, though the nature of his internals also being metal meant that he hated to get shot. He didn’t always heal the right way, being non-organic.

His first body had been made hastily. With solid brass and no give aside from very specific joints, but through the years and as people like Nastya, Ivy, Raphaella, and even Marius had learned more or joined, he got updates. One of his favorites was one that his dear Ivy had come up with, and helped Carmilla engineer before they’d even received Tim or the Toy Soldier. A solid layer of heat and cooling insulation around his heart. It was designed to keep him from losing consciousness or dying from his mechanism overheating, but they realized that now, he could heat or cool his body like a heating-pad or ice-pack without personal repercussions. Everyone had their pains from where their mechanism merged with their bodies, even when they hated to admit it. And Brian was more than happy to oblige becoming a personal healer. 

It started when Ashes’ chest wouldn’t stop burning, and not really in the good way. Brian had come across them leaning heavily on the counter in the bathroom. He’d coaxed them to stand, a back to his chest, posture straight against his taller form. He’d pressed a large, cooled hand flat against the top of their rib cage and had them inhale slowly. The other just held them in place by the arm. The cold felt good and after a solid ten minutes, the burning faded to the normal humming warmth of machinery inside Ashes’ chest. 

Next was Ivy, with one of her headaches. She’d get them, most of the time, right where her head and neck met. A cooling hand from Brian as they read together helped the ache where the nerves and metal conjoined. 

Then, with more Mechanisms, more pain followed. Marius was one of the most common offenders now, along with Tim. Gentle, warmed, nimble fingers rubbing and massaging over tender or swollen skin under eyes or across the shoulder. Raphaella would have him just splay his hands out around and between her deadly things as she worked sometimes, letting his warmed up palm comfort the junction where the metal of her wings cut into her spine. The Toy Soldier just used him to reheat tea.

But Jonny? He’d always refused to acknowledge when he was hurting. Even when it was so painfully clear to those around him, especially Brian. The man had been a doctor before his death after all. Slowly, he’d started letting Brian help when his heart made his chest ache, but he’d never acknowledge that's what he was doing. Not for the first few hundred years at least. The first time that Jonny even acknowledged it was nearly fifty years after Ivy and the Doc had fixed him up that was. It wasn’t until Brian found the First Mate cross-legged on the kitchen floor, so dazed and foggy that Brian wasn’t sure if he registered his presence at all. Then Jonny let out a pained groan that sounded a lot like “Brian” and the metal man caved from his thought of whether his new crewmate would actually appreciate being helped. He got down on the floor with him, gently counting each of his actions out-loud, mostly out of habit, as he reached for Jonny. 

“Here, you need to let go of the counter,” he coached as his slowly warming fingers took Jonny’s wrist into his hand, pulling it instead to rest on his shoulder, where it grabbed at the thin material of Brian’s undershirt. “And I’m going to touch your sides to lift you now,” Brian started with a grunt as he pulled Jonny into his lap as gently as he could. It wasn’t that the First Mate was heavy, just that Brian didn’t want to agitate him or his pain any more than necessary. 

The second he was settled into Brian’s lap, both of Jonny’s arms slid around his neck to hold on, like a toddler to his father, almost asleep. Brian chuckled softly to himself, pushing his hand over the width of Jonny’s upper back to coax his chest closer to the warmth. Judging by the uneven and arrhythmic ticking that Brian could feel with him this close, something must have gotten jostled last time he and Ashes thought wrestling and guns went together well, and he hadn’t let himself sleep or even really rest enough for his body to heal itself the way it was made to.

Jonny let out a deep sigh and as Brian’s fingers danced over his back and sides to feel for any damage in his ribs and he could feel how the shorter man melted into him, and it wasn’t much of a wait before he was asleep. The gentle thrum of Brian’s machinery and the sustained cycle of warmth settling into Jonny’s bones and heart was soothing in a way that he still wasn’t used to. 

When he’d woken up, he’d fled the scene and would have planted a bullet in Brian’s leg if the gun on his person hadn’t been commandeered by the fore-thinking metal man. Didn’t need the ‘gift’ of prophecy for that. But he didn’t spit any harsh words at him. And when, about two weeks later, they got stuck in the same place at the same time, he didn’t actively try and remove himself from Brian’s presence. But it still took a while to get to where they two were now.

🝊🝊

Brian was stood in their kitchen, though the room looked more like something in the back of a restaurant than in a home. But it served the crew and their needs just fine. He’d just set a pot on the stove, glad for being able to forgo mitts with no real repercussions as someone had either hidden, lost, or destroyed them with no extras to be found. The pot held the progress of some bone broth from _something_ Tim and Marius had brought back, but it seemed to be serving its purpose just fine. 

The gentle bubbling and the pleasant smells let Brian fade into his own little world. He shut his eyes, and began going through some of his filed away thoughts from the past week he’d been meaning to get around to reading through and processing. It felt warm, the room did. Swirls of curling red and golden smoke drifted against the back of his eyelids accompanied by little yellow and orange glowing spots; spinning around like a party full of people dancing to a Bulgarian waltz. A deep sigh left Brian’s l ps as he practically melted into the industrial metal counter, hands holding the edge to keep it from digging into his back too much, elbows lying flat. He queued up his first file. A captured image of something odd the Bifrost had started to do on Lyfrassir’s scalp that he and Ivy had been rather intrigued by.

“Hello Drumbot!” Aurora chimed from a speaker over in the corner, jostling Brian from his momentary respite. He shot up, stumbling a little as he came to something resembling ‘attention’ in response. Once he registered that it was just Aurora though, he relaxed.

“Jesus Aurora, you gave me a heart attack,” Brian caught his breath, even if he didn’t actually need the air.

“Don’t be silly! You can not have a heart attack! Your arteries are metal and cannot get clogged!” The ship had an audible smile in her voice, somehow. Brian decided not to think about it too hard. He was a robot with a living heart talking to a sentient ship that was dating his younger sister. Best not to think on any of it too hard. Might short-circuit or something.

“No, Aurora it’s- actually nevermind. What is it?” Brian shook his head, leaning back into the counter to look up at the blue-tinged screen she’d turned on just above the big industrial sink.

“Oh yes!! Jonny would require your assistance I think,” she informed him. Brian stood up a bit straighter, pursing his lips into a tight line. 

“Did he ask for it? Is something wrong?” there was a spike of urgency in his voice. Jonny was _not_ one to ask for any kind of help with anything, unfortunately. And while he’d gotten much better about it, the fact he’d sent Aurora-

Brian was cut out of his thoughts by the electronic voice again.

“No! I decided to fetch you of my own volition! He appears to be in some sort of non-intentional pain of anyone's action!” Oh, he could relax then. It was probably his mechanism acting up. Which was far from good, but it was something he knew how to handle going in. Brian smiled a little

“And you didn’t alert Marius? Our _doctor_? Before me?” He asked with a lilt to his speech, meandering over to his boiling pot to check it though the clear lid coated with condensation. Aurora gave a mechanical, discomforting sound to emulate a laugh. 

“I don’t desire to have bits of the Baron all over my walls today” she stated with far too much cheer for the context of bloody murder, but at this point in their thousands of years, it was rather hard to phase anyone on the ship.

“Yeah, alright, that’s fair,” Brian scoffed, pushing up off and away from the stove, rotating on his heel in a wide motion. “Where is he, Aurora?” he asked.

“The commons!” A map popped up on her screen to indicate where Jonny was residing, even if Brian really didn’t need it. He had the same map downloaded to his brain, minus the ability to know where anyone was like The Aurora did. Brian smiled, thanked her, and started to head out to the commons to find his love, trusting that if something happened in the kitchen, Aurora wouldn’t let it get out of hand.

The kitchen wasn’t far from the commons, but it still took a second to get to the couch and pillow covered room. The dark wood coffee table sat low to the floor in the center of the couches and chairs, still holding a few crystal glasses and a half bottle of whiskey, cracked along the neck. Brian had gone ahead and started to warm up his chest and hands so he could get right to rubbing loose any muscles or help the aching in his chest. 

"Jonny?" He called out into the emptiness around him, no First Mate visible. Brian sighed. He didn't necessarily mind going to find Jonny, but he was tired and he didn't know what kind of fight his lover was gonna put up against him trying to help him, especially if he was also in mental duress. Brian was probably over-thinking this. He started to call out for Jonny when a pale blob moved in the corner of his eye and he was jumped on top of by him, knocking them both over the back of the couch onto the cushions. Thank goodness it was wide.

Brian tried to steady himself with his surroundings, the worn leather under him allowing him to be less concerned on less falling and more generally orenting himself. Jonny had launched them both into the couch and was now laying on top of Brian, arms and legs splayed about, face tucking itself into the crook of his neck.

The First Mate inhaled deeply. Brian smelled nice. Like bone broth and turmeric and ginger from the broth, but it did little to hide the metallic, heavy smell of his 'skin'. And the soapy smell of freshly washed clothes. A tee-shirt and undone vest untucked from a mid-length skirt made of a flowy but sturdy material. Jonny smiled and closed his eyes as the warmth leached from Brian's body into his, warming the icy pain of the metal in his chest.

Brian cupped the back of his head, the other arm going to hold him where he was closest to the edge of the couch. His arms were strong. Metal that should have felt cold and foreign where it met Jonny's s in instead felt warm and secure. And he didn't feel like he might ever fall. 

"There you are," Brian was quiet now, voice gentle in a way that felt like the smell of a cooling peach pie and tweed fabric. Jonny hummed in response, nuzzling deeper into his neck and shifting his position. "You ok there, love?" Brian's big hands rubbed over his back kindly, coaxing Jonny into a further state of relaxation. 

"Mmmhm. Chest 'urts. 'er warm.." he muttered. 

"Do you want help getting up?" Brian asked him as Jonny squirmed. 

"Mmn-mmn" he shook his head, and Brian could feel the knots in his hair as his head rubbed against his chin. 

"Alright. We gonna stay like this for a second?" Brian asked again, gentle as before, keeping Jonny as close as he could, keeping his temperature regulated as not to burn him.

"Mmmhmmm" Jonny slurred and Brian could feel him as he drifted into sleep, breath evening out and body going slack.

"Alright then," Brian pressed a kiss gentle into his head. "Captain.." he whispered, hopeless in his love.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh and the title is another Hozier song. It's from "From Eden"


End file.
